One of the least talked about goals of attending college is to leave having built meaningful relationships with a new group of folks that you can now call family; your new play-cousins. You spend years together figuring out your courses, your career goals, and more importantly, who you are as a person. In doing so, you get to take part in life changing experiences that have the potential to mold you into your most authentic self, and solidify who you want to be in the world around you. Yet, in order for this to happen, your campus has to intentionally provide space for you to experiment, explore, fail, and succeed safely with the support of your peers, teachers, and administrators. We recognize that this may look differently depending on the environment you’re in, but nevertheless, we all want the vibe of having felt included, encouraged, and inspired. This episode, we’ll hear directly from Stillman College junior, Hanna Fields, about what she needs from her institution in order to perceive her campus culture as equitable and inclusive, and senior administrators, Darryl Ann Lai Fang and Chanel L. Fort, on what we can be doing to instill this sense of family and protect our most vulnerable. Let’s meet our guests: Hannah Fields - She’s a 21-year-old Junior at Stillman College. She recently became a Journalism and English major. So far in her college career, she has been a part of the English Honors Society-Sigma Tau Delta, Harte Honors, and many other academic opportunities/organizations. Outside of school, Hannah reads, writes, and spends time with her friends and family (over the phone). Facebook: Hannah Fields Chanel L. Fort - With 21 years of experience, Fort has made a career in designing, implementing, and evaluating sustainable learning and development, workforce education, and change management programs for private, non-profit, government, and higher education entities. Fort serves as Director of Academic Innovation at Stillman College, a historically Black college and university (HBCU) located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Fort leads as Creator and Learning Strategist of Fortified Learning Solutions, designing and implementing equitable strategies for change, and serves as a National Designer in Residence for Education Design Lab reimagining the role of higher education to close racial and economic opportunity gaps. She’s a member of various organizations and committees and remains actively engaged in the community as Change Agent for UNCF’s Institute for Capacity Building. A native of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Fort earned a B.S. in Health Sciences and an M.S. in Human Services Administration. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Education from Pepperdine University, focusing on global leadership and change. What’s important to me are the community, equitable higher education, and social change strategies for closing racialized opportunity gaps. Twitter: @clfort5 & LinkedIn: Fortified Education Solutions Darryl Ann Lai Fang - ICB Director of Strategy Execution and is responsible for implementing strategies for the institutional transformation of Black colleges and universities. She oversees the fastest-growing service vertical of program managers assigned to institutional cohorts. Don’t mess with her. Darryl Ann is a U.S. Air Force veteran who served in Desert Shield and Desert Storm. She leverages the discipline, hard work and attention to detail that she learned in the military to propel higher education institutions toward transformational change. Darryl Ann earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management from the University of Phoenix, a Master of Science degree in Human Resource Management from Nova Southeastern University, and is currently pursuing a Doctorate of from the Interdenominational Theological Center (UNCF Member) Twitter @Watkins1024 & TikTok Darryl Lai Fang
